The race for the three-year term on the South Bristol Board of Selectman was too close to call with one vote separating the candidates. Incumbent Donald G. Stanley, Jr. received 51 votes, and write-in candidate Kenneth Lincoln received 50 votes.
The candidates will inspect the ballots at 1 p.m. on Friday March 13 at the South Bristol Town Office. It is at that point that a recount can be requested.
Trudy Gamage captured 96 votes in her bid for a three-year term on the South Bristol School Board. Timothy Gamage won the other seat on the school board with 95 votes. The third candidate, Annette Farrin received one vote.
Most of the 41 articles on the 2009 South Bristol warrant generated little discussion from the crowd in the South Bristol School gymnasium.
The article which commanded the most floor time from residents was the debate over Union 74’s request of $3172 for South Bristol’s local share of the Adult Education budget, and the board and budget committee’s recommendation of $2612.
The $2612 was last year’s approved contribution to the Union 74 Adult Ed program. “No one uses this program in town,” said Chuck Plummer, budget committee member. “Two people went, and neither finished. I figured the money last year worked fine.”
Plummer made a motion to amend the article down to the selectmen and budget committee’s approved amount of $2612.
Union 74 Superintendent Bob Bouchard explained the 2009 Adult Ed program budget is essentially flat. The decreases in state subsidy last year required greater use of surplus, which necessitated asking local municipalities for slightly larger contributions, he said.
He said demand for these services is rising with the falling economy, and now is the wrong time to cut these services. Bouchard pointed out the $3172 the Adult Ed program needs would only cover a quarter year of tuition at Lincoln Academy.
The amendment reducing South Bristol’s contribution to last year’s amount of $2612 was voted down, and voters approved the $3172 as originally requested.
Article 11 generated questions about how the selectmen arrived at the $240,000 figure from the Stratton fund to reduce the tax commitment. Rice explained 70 percent of the annual earnings from the Stratton fund are applied to reduce the tax commitment each year.
Information regarding the status of the Stratton account is available in the town report. Rice explained the first year the selectmen invested the money themselves and earned $609,000, but thought it would be better to have financial professionals manage the money.
There is $8,878,644.92 in the Stratton fund currently. “We have earned $943,041.40 in tax benefits from the use of this money to date,” he said. “We use some of this money to fund the Ann Wilder Stratton Award program. There is $45,000 left for scholarships after this year’s award is given.”
Chuck Plummer was nominated and elected by South Bristol residents for another five-year term on the budget committee in Article 14. No one spoke for or against the nomination.
Voters approved Article 8, allowing the selectmen to set aside $25,000 to give a two percent discount to taxpayers who pay their tax bill within 30 days of invoice. Board Chairman Chester Rice explained this allows the town to collect 55 percent of taxes within that first 30 days.
“We haven’t had to borrow, since Joe Wilcox came on as Selectman, maybe longer,” said moderator Kenneth Maguire.
Voters approved $127,686 for the Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station in Article 22. Moderator Kenneth Maguire joked “this touches everyone every week or two when they drive to the dump.”
In Article 24, residents approved the entire $15,279 requested of South Bristol by non-profit organizations.
There was a short recess between the town and school budget articles. Just before the recess Rice gave an update about litigation costs for the shoreland zoning violation case involving Jim Nelson.
He said the town has been trying to enforce these zoning laws for almost four years, expending a total of $31,000. “We still owe the attorneys $5,000,” said Rice. “We traveled from Maine to California on this case. We meet with the Department of Environmental Protection next week.”
Of all the articles in the school budget, only Article 40 with $849,641 for essential programs and services generated much discussion. Bouchard explained the school budget funding table in this article contains estimates for state funding, because the budget is created before the state legislature adjourns.
The numbers listed were conservative amounts, according to Bouchard. “The amount of subsidy listed was reduced by $10,000,” he said. “The $849,641 is the amount South Bristol must raise to receive the $35,000 in state subsidy.”
Article 41, allocates $583,081 above the essential programs and services funding in the previous article. Voters passed this article by secret ballot with 62 ‘yes’ votes and one ‘no’ vote.
This year the school budget validation vote by secret ballot will likely be held primary day June 9. The date of the vote will be the same for all towns in Maine, Bouchard said.
Due to the ballot inspection on Friday, the town meeting will reconvene at 2 p.m. on March 13.
